yet another body only a few feet away. It’s a fucking graveyard.
“Not that one,” Ringo says, pointing his gun to a bush that’s decorated with a man’s brain, his body propped up against the dense foliage. “That one’s Russian.”
Russians? What are the Russians doing here? Nox hates the Russians.
I feel dread and fear arrest me. Everywhere I turn, another dead body is staring at me. I cover my own mouth, backing up until I slam into a chest and jump out of my skin.
“Easy,” Brad whispers, holding me up. I could fall to the ground, my earlier grit when I held Danny’s men at gunpoint vanishing. He takes my hand and starts to guide me through the trees, Ringo leading, both of them alert and tense. More bodies. More blood. More carnage. Tears prick at the backs off my eyes, my worst nightmare becoming more real with every step I take. We seem to trek for miles, my strength waning, and when we emerge from the bushes onto the road that leads to the boatyard, it’s like a mass grave. I choke on nothing, scanning the faces of all the men we weave through, my eyes studying each face carefully. I don’t know what I’ll do if Danny’s face is among the dead.
My cheeks wet, I blindly stagger along with Brad, tripping over small rocks as I go. Every beat of my heart hurts, to the point I wish it would just stop beating altogether. All these men. There are dozens, and Danny was alone, damn him. What was he fucking thinking?
“Rose,” Brad says, tugging me in front of him and resting his hands on my shoulders. “Look.”
I lift my eyes from the scattered bodies around me, and what I find has me falling back, needing Brad’s chest to support me. A low, broken sob escapes me. Danny’s up ahead, his back to me. He’s shaking someone’s hand. I don’t know who. I don’t care. He’s alive. I make to break from Brad’s hold, a newfound strength injecting life into me. I just need to get to him.
“Wait,” Brad orders, hauling me back. “Just wait. Let him finish.”
“What’s he doing?”
“Selling his soul to the devil.”
“What?”
“That’s Volodya. Russian mafia. Danny just handed the Romanians to him on a silver platter.”
I inhale, my eyes falling to a body not far from Danny’s feet as if a magnet is pulling them there. But this body is still breathing. “Oh God.” I stare, enthralled, as Danny releases the Russian’s hand and turns toward Nox’s bloodied, limp body. He lowers to his haunches. Gets as close as he can. He smiles. Then he nods to a nearby man who steps in and drags Nox to his feet. He’s battered, bloodied, and disheveled. But he’s alive. At least, for now.
Danny’s saved him for last. For himself. Nox spits at Danny, the move labored, leaving saliva dribbling down his chin as he heaves. “Any last words?” Danny asks, rising to his feet and holding his hand out. A machete is placed in it, the blade sparkling, freshly sharpened and glistening.
“Fuck you,” Nox rasps.
And Danny grins. It’s the dirtiest, most evil grin I’ve ever seen. Not just on him. On any man. He raises the machete and sweeps it through the air smoothly, taking Nox’s head clean off his shoulders in one accurate stroke. The thud when it hits the ground is deafening, and I wretch, turning into Brad’s chest and hiding, my stomach revolting against my swallows. There was so much pleasure on his face. So much satisfaction, and though I have wished Nox dead for years and years, triumph is hampered by my shock and nausea.
“Rose.” Brad muscles me from his chest, and I turn, tears painting streaks down my face. The Russian accepts the blade when Danny hands it to him, and he smiles, as satisfied as Danny. And they shake hands again before Danny turns to me. When he spots me, he stills, watching me from a distance. Mildly, he nods, his fist coming up to his chest and tapping over his heart. “For you,” he mouths.
I crumble, wiping at my eyes, suddenly ashamed of myself for being so emotional. For being so weak. For letting him see me like this, but the relief that he’s alive, the relief that Nox is dead . . . it’s too much.
Danny starts toward me, his expressionless face slowly cracking, a smile growing as he comes closer. My surroundings blur and eventually vanish completely, the sounds dulling